MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

SPECIES: Amelanchier arborea
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
In areas where common serviceberry grows big enough, it is used for
pulpwood [21].
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
At least 40 bird species and several dozen mammal species eat the fruit
of the Amelanchier genus. Mammals that use common serviceberry include
squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, foxes, black bears, and elk [12,17].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Common serviceberry is the preferred food of the gypsy moth (Lymantria
dispar) during its larval stages [6]. Common serviceberry has been known
to increase in number and density after defoliation from gypsy moths
[8].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Amelanchier arborea
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Common serviceberry is a tall, deciduous shrub or small tree, growing up
to 30 feet (9 m) or more [20]. Its trunk is about 16 inches (40 cm) in
diameter [4]. The maximum recorded height and diameter for downy
serviceberry is 70 feet (21 m) high and 2 feet (0.6 m) d.b.h. [14]. Its
branches are purplish when young but turn grey at maturity. Leaves are
alternate and simple with serrate margins. They are almost twice as
long as broad. Flowers are white, and the berrylike pomme fruit is dark
red to purple [20]. There are 4 to 10 seeds per fruit [1].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Common serviceberry regenerates mainly by seed, but it also sprouts from
the root crown [14]. Seeds are dispersed by birds and mammals; bird
ingestion of seeds is an important scarification process [17]. Seeds
should be collected soon after ripening before animals eat them. Seeds
can be washed from the fruits by mashing them with water. There is an
average of 80,000 cleaned seeds per pound (176,000 kg). Seeds should be
dry stored at 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 deg C) in sealed containers.
Seeds can be sown in either fall or spring after 2 to 6 months of cold
stratification, but they will not usually germinate until after the
second spring [1].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Common serviceberry grows on a variety of sites from swampy lowlands to
dry woods and sandy bluffs. It also grows on rocky ridges, forest
edges, and open woodlands and fields [20,23]. In the mixed hardwoods of
Appalachia, common serviceberry may compete better with other species in
stands on low quality sites [21].
Common serviceberry grows in red spruce (Picea rubens)-Fraser fir (Abies
fraseri) forests of the mountainous Southeast. Here it grows in
association with yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), mountain ash
(Sorbus americana), elderberry (Sambucus pubens), and hobblebush
(Viburnum alnifolium) at elevations between 4,950 and 6,600 feet
(1,500-2,000 m). Soils in these types are moderately drained
Inceptisols with a thick organic horizon and a low pH [2].
In the Midwest common serviceberry grows with boxelder (Acer negundo),
sugar maple (A. saccharum), white oak (Quercus alba), black ash
(Fraxinus nigra), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), shagbark hickory
(Carya ovata), and American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana). Soils here
are well-drained silty clay loam and poorly drained silt loams [13].
Some understory associates include lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium
angustifolium), penstemon (Penstemon canescens), raspberry (Rubus spp.),
greenbrier (Smilax spp.), and witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) [7,8].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Common serviceberry is a late successional to climax species in
mixed-hardwood forests of the central United States [13].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
In the northern part of its range, common serviceberry flowers at the
same time its leaves emerge in April and May. Fruits are produced in
June and July [20]. In southern parts of its range, common serviceberry
flowers in March and produces fruit from June through August [1,4].

FIRE EFFECTS

SPECIES: Amelanchier arborea
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fire top-kills common serviceberry [19].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
August burning of slash piles in the forest of lower Michigan killed
most of the common serviceberry on the site [19]. Stumps and roots
sprouted the following year, but much of common serviceberry found on the
site was established from seed dispersed by birds and mammals. Studies
in Pennsylvania showed contradictory results in the closely related
species, Amelanchier canadensis [9]. A. canadensis was not present on
burned sites until more than 15 years following fire but was prolific on
unburned sites.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Common serviceberry will recolonize sites following fire [18,19].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
Following wildfire in a spruce-fir forest of Appalachia, common
serviceberry was present in stands after 30 years, but was less than 1
percent of the total basal area. Specific effects of the fire on common
serviceberry were not studied [18]. For fire information on
a related species, see Amelanchier alnifolia.
The following Research Project Summaries provide information on prescribed
fire use and postfire response of plant community species, including common
serviceberry, that was not available when this species review was originally
written: